Spring accumulators can be employed in parking brake systems. An example of a conventional spring accumulator is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,232,207 (issued Aug. 3, 1993); hereby incorporated by reference.
Parking brake systems can be employed at any suitable location on a vehicle. Examples of such locations comprise drive lines or shafts, wheel brakes, drum brakes, servo actuated brakes, among other types and locations. Parking brake systems typically include a parking brake cable that is either electrically or manually actuated by applying a tensile force to a cable strand (which also applies a compressive force to the surrounding cable conduit). This force is in turn applied to the parking brake system that causes a frictional material (e.g., brake pad) to engage thereby maintaining the vehicle in a predetermined position. The angle and orientation (i.e., up or down hill) at which a vehicle is parked as well as the overall weight of the vehicle (including any payload) can affect operation of the parking brake system. There is a need in this art for a parking brake system having a preloaded force or minimum tension in the parking brake cable in order to minimize such affects on the parking brake system.